Naruto
* * * * * * Child of the Prophecy (予言の子, Yogen no Ko) Debut (Manga) * Uzumaki Naruto! Name:Naruto Uzumaki Birthdate October 10 Gender Male Age * Part I: 12-13 * Part II: 15-16 Height * Part I: 145.3 cm1.453 m 4.767 ft 57.205 in-147.5 cm1.475 m 4.839 ft 58.071 in * Part II: 166 cm1.66 m 5.446 ft 65.354 in Weight * Part I: 40.1 kg88.405 lb-40.6 kg89.508 lb * Part II: 50.9 kg112.215 lb Blood type B Tailed Beast Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (Forms) Classification Jinchūriki, Sage Affiliation * Konohagakure * Myōbokuzan Team * Team Kakashi * Team Shikamaru * Eight Man Squad * Team One Rank Ninja Rank:Genin Ninja Registration:012607 Academy Grad. Age:12 Family * Minato Namikaze (Father) * Kushina Uzumaki (Mother) * Jiraiya (Godfather) Nature Type * Wind (Affinity) Jutsu * All Directions Shuriken * Clone Body Blow * Clone Spinning Heel Drop (Anime only) * Combination Transformation * Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet (Anime only) * Flying Swallow * Four-Tailed Fox Menacing Ball * Frog Kata (Manga only) * Great Ball Rasengan * Harem Technique * Multiple Shadow Clone Technique * New Sexy Technique * Nine-Tails Sonic Roar * One Thousand Years of Death * Rasengan * Red Chakra Arms * Sage Art: Great Ball Rasengan (Manga only) * Sage Mode * Sage Technique: Rasenrengan (Manga only) * Sexy Technique * Shadow Clone Technique * Shadow Shuriken Technique * Six-Tailed Fox Menacing Ball (Manga only) * Summoning Technique (Toads) * Typhoon Water Vortex Technique * Uzumaki Naruto Combo * Uzumaki Naruto Two Thousand Combo * Uzumaki Ring Formation (Anime only) * Wind Release: Rasengan * Wind Release: Rasenshuriken * Wind Release: Toad Gun (Anime only) * Wind Release: Toad Oil Bullet (Anime only) * Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet (Anime only) Background Naruto was born as the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki. Before his birth, they had decided to name him after the main character in Jiraiya's first book, hoping their son would be as great a ninja as the character was. This made Jiraiya Naruto's godfather. Soon after his birth, however, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konoha. To save the village, the Fourth Hokage engaged the Nine-Tails in combat and sacrificed his life by sealing it within Naruto, believing his son would someday have use for it. Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing of his parents, receiving only his mother's last name since the Third Hokage felt that it was best that nobody knew that he was related to the Fourth Hokage. Before the Fourth Hokage died, he asked that the villagers of Konoha view Naruto as a hero who had helped to stop the Nine-Tails. Few of the villagers did as he asked, most instead resented him for containing the monster that had destroyed their home. In light of this, the Third Hokage decreed that nobody should ever speak of the Nine-Tails sealed within Naruto, hoping that their children would not resent him as they did. The children, however, followed their parents' lead, despite not knowing why. Iruka Umino would be one of the few exceptions, who was always compassionate to Naruto's plight. For this, Naruto came to view Iruka as the father-figure he never had. Appearance As stated by Jiraiya, Naruto bears a striking resemblance to his father, possessing similar blue eyes and spiky blond hair though the actual shape of his eyes resemble his mother's. A trait regularly mentioned, that easily angered him, was his short stature for his age. During Part I, he was one of the shortest in his graduating class, second only to Hinata Hyūga. During Part II, he had a significant growth spurt that was noticeable to all, as first mentioned by Sakura Haruno, who stated he was now much taller than her.Even Kiba Inuzuka stated that Naruto had become a "giant,"and Temari remarked that the 'shorty' had grown dramatically upon seeing him. In Part I, Naruto's outfit consisted of a orange jacket with blue on the upper shoulders area, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red swirl on the back, and a big white collar as well as orange pants, blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector that was given to him by Iruka after he graduated from the Ninja Academy. In Part II, Naruto's outfit undergoes modification after being worn to shreds during his training with Jiraiya.The outfit retains the orange color as well as the white (without the tassel) and red swirls, but the jacket is much more form fitting and the upper shoulders area is now black in color. The forehead protector has also changed with Naruto moving the metal portion to a new longer black bandanna and he wears black sandals instead of blue. During his battle with Pain, Naruto sported a red coat with black flaming designs at the bottom, and a large summoning scroll on his back. The coat is similar to the one his father wore, aside from the color and the absence of the kanji on the back. The scroll and the coat have not been used or seen since then. Personality Due to the prejudice and loneliness he suffered in his childhood, Naruto developed a craving for acknowledgment. In order to achieve this, Naruto would pull pranks all around the village and even go as far as strive for the title of Hokage. Even after graduating from the academy, Naruto was still determined to be recognized though as Naruto made more and more connections with others, his reasons for wanting to become Hokage underwent a change, having less to do with the desire for recognition, and more to do with wanting the strength to protect his home and the people close to him. Because of Naruto's desire to become Hokage, he greatly admires those who have held it. As stated by Madara Uchiha, Naruto is a firm believer in the Will of Fire to the point that he was unwilling to betray a former comrade. Naruto's exuberant personality and fiery desire for self-improvement strongly impacts the lives of those around him. At the beginning of the series, Naruto befriended Konohamaru Sarutobi, the grandson of the Third Hokage, and it is through his brief tutelage that Konohamaru learned that the path to success is through plenty of hard work. Kakashi Hatake has described this as Naruto's "unique power," as he seems to change the world views of everyone he meets, and inspires courage for the future within them. With this power, Naruto was able to redeem Zabuza Momochi, make Neji Hyūga abandon his view of destiny and inescapable fate, inspire courage in Inari, Sakura, and Hinata, persuade Tsunade to come out of seclusion, change Gaara from the dark demon into one of his closest friends, and even earn the trust of Nagato, the apparent leader of Akatsuki, who was one of the main antagonists of the series. Neji believes that only Naruto can save Sasuke from darkness; however, Sasuke and the Fourth Raikage are to date the only people Naruto has failed to persuade. As mentioned above, Naruto is characterized as being hyperactive; he is typically exuberant, easily excitable, impulsive, and suffers from a short attention span. This is supported by Asuma Sarutobi in the 'Fire Temple' arc in the anime, describing Naruto as being the type who doesn't think before acting, similar to Sora. Asuma also identifies Naruto's personality type and fighting style, like Sora's, as being a 'power type' (types that are best suited to 'charging straight in') and are best effective in battle when sent in first, in the front to 'clear a path' through the enemy's defensive line, making a way in after them for the rest of the team. While raw power is one of his strengths, Naruto has begun to learn in recent chapters that it is something that he needs to temper with focus in order for it to become truly effective. According to Kakashi, Naruto is someone who learns through his body. Naruto is relatively naive, being slow to understand a jutsu's principles, and often requiring a dumbing-down of an already dumbed-down analogy in order to grasp what is being explained to him. This assumes he is able to keep his attention long enough, as he commonly seeks to change the subject in light of his ignorance, outwardly insisting that he already gets the concept. Though he retains this confidence in himself to great degrees, loudly proclaiming that he will master whatever technique he is learning in a fraction of the usual time, Naruto will not hesitate to ask for help if he needs it. As an extension of his naivety, Naruto has a number of childish traits. His pajamas always include a comical black nightcap with eyes and teeth, and he keeps his money in a chubby, green-frog wallet he affectionately calls "Gama-chan." He is also very brash and rarely pays heed to formality or social standings. He almost exclusively eats ramen, and is a frequent customer at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. He has only refused ramen on one occasion: when he was stricken by grief over Jiraiya's death.8 He has a natural affinity for perverted ideas and jutsu, something he tends to be reprimanded for by Sakura as well as Iruka, and which is only brought to new levels after meeting Jiraiya. He also smiles near-constantly, which during his childhood, was to mask the sadness of his lonely life. Those who are closest to him are able to recognize when his smile isn't genuine. However, when the situation calls for it, when someone dear to him is in trouble, Naruto can be very serious, and will instantly try to come to their aid. This is most commonly seen in the series through his interactions with his teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto views him as a brother, and throughout Part II strives to bring him back to Konoha, despite his willing defection from the village. With Sakura, Naruto had a long-standing crush on her, and will do all in his power to make her happy, even if it is at the expense of his own happiness. Sai has indicated that this dedication has progressed to the point of love. Sai also notes that the strain of making Sakura happy and bringing Sasuke home are the source of Naruto's internal pain. After talking with his father, and the loss of his mentor Jiraiya and talking to his killer, Nagato, Naruto came to understand the downside of revenge, and desired to stop Sasuke from it even more. Also, Naruto tried to stop the Kumo-nin from exacting their revenge against Sasuke, for this would only create a cycle of hatred. It appears that Naruto is becoming increasingly desperate in his quest to save Sasuke, as he was willing to get down on his knees before the Raikage and beg for Sasuke to be forgiven for his crimes and even take physical abuse over selling him out. Furthermore, after learning from Madara Uchiha the reason of Sasuke's hatred, Naruto decided and proclaimed to Sakura, who was trying to get him to leave his quest, that he truly understands Sasuke now and he wants to save him not just because of the promise he made to Sakura, but for also to himself. However, after realizing that the rest of his comrades are aiming to kill Sasuke, and that nobody in the village will ever accept him again, Naruto apparently suffered from hyperventilation due to the extreme conflict that he has been presented with. Upon finally reuniting with Sasuke, Naruto sympathizes with the criminal for his actions, and refused to back down or kill him, instead finding a third solution. Naruto came to the conclusion that the two of them were indeed destined to fight, as Madara predicted, and that when that happens, both Naruto and Sasuke would die. Naruto is fully prepared to shoulder Sasuke's burden, as a friend. In a way, Naruto is the sole person to not have given up hope on Sasuke. However, like the rest of Konoha, Naruto has finally given up in bringing back Sasuke as a citizen of the village, believing that words would no longer have any effect to allowing them to understand each other. Abilities At the start of the series, one of the only jutsu Naruto could do without fail was his own original Transformation Technique, called the Sexy Technique; a creative but almost completely useless diversionary jutsu, used simply to shock his instructors.9 Naruto was also able to use simple E-rank abilities, like the Cloak of Invisibility Technique and Body Replacement Technique. Although Naruto had trouble with the Clone Technique at the start of the series, he quickly learned how to use Jōnin-level techniques, like the Shadow Clone Technique and its larger-scale version. While under the tutelage of Jiraiya, Naruto's abilities have continued to improve; his prowess in ninjutsu and taijutsu have grown greatly, and he had also been taught some limited skill at dispelling genjutsu. However, the most valuable assets that Naruto has gained in his training with Jiraiya are an increased range of battle smarts and more knowledge of the basics of a shinobi, which he lacked during Part I. This, along with the skills and abilities Naruto has gained over the course of Part II, makes him a much more complete ninja. Also, during Part II, Naruto has regularly proven himself a match against the S-Class members of Akatsuki. It has been said by Kakashi at different points in time that Naruto has surpassed Jiraiya, Tsunade, his father, and even Kakashi himself in strength. He was suggested to be Hokage in Tsunade's place by several villagers following Pain's invasion. Zetsu has noted that Naruto is probably stronger than Sasuke before the attack on the Kage Summit. While searching for the Uchiha brothers, Itachi granted Naruto a portion of his power, in case Sasuke ever chooses to revolt against Konohagakure. It is currently unknown what this power is yet. Jinchuriki Transformations As the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, both Naruto's mind and body are occasionally influenced by it. Physically, Naruto has some of the fox's characteristics, such as whisker-like marks on his cheeks and larger than normal canines, which become enhanced further during his transformations. He also has increased stamina and healing abilities, which allows him to recover from major injuries usually within a day, and minor injuries within a few seconds. Mentally, Naruto remains largely unaffected, save for a few animalistic traits that slip through, such as his occasional tendency to leap between trees on all fours. Since the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Naruto at birth, it is unclear just what parts of his personality it has had an effect on; however, it could explain Naruto's impish side for pulling pranks to gain attention, as well as his stubbornness to never back down from a challenge. Naruto's normal chakra level is considered extremely high, partially because of the Nine-Tails. Even without directly drawing upon it, a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra is always mixed with his own. Jiraiya once commented upon the fact that Naruto's body is much too small a vessel to properly contain the chakra of the Nine-Tails, and his body will instinctively reject the bulk of it due to the damage it would cause. Ebisu implied that Naruto's poor chakra control stems from this, as a portion of his chakra is used to reject the Nine-Tails' overwhelming chakra. What chakra that does not get suppressed by Naruto's body is assimilated by his chakra, making Naruto's usual chakra capacity unusually high. According to Kakashi, Naruto's regular chakra level is about four times of Kakashi's own. As such, he is naturally suited to jutsu that use a large amount of chakra, such as his signature jutsu, Shadow Clone Technique. While most ninja are only capable of creating a few clones safely, due to the jut su's hazard of equally dividing the user's chakra among the clones, Naruto is able to create hundreds while maintaining a decent supply of chakra in each one. The Nine-Tails' chakra usually comes to Naruto during life-threatening or other stressful situations, given to him by the Nine-Tails itself to ensure its survival. Naruto eventually learns to contact the Nine-Tails and demand some of its chakra, which it seems to comply to out of amusement. The reason Naruto is able to access its chakra is because of the unique way in which it was sealed. Though the Nine-Tails remains trapped within Naruto, its chakra can leak out through the seal and mix with Naruto's. The Nine-Tails' massive supply of chakra becomes an invaluable weapon for Naruto, often turning the tide of a difficult battle in his favor. Though useful, expanding the magnitude of his other abilities, Naruto cannot handle too much of the Nine-Tails' influence. As he draws upon additional amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra, "tails" are produced, and from the fourth tail onwards he is reduced to animal instincts, no longer being able to differentiate between friend and foe. Although he usually stops himself from getting too far, once the fourth tail is attained, he needs outside assistance to force the Nine-Tails' influence to recede. Shadow Clone Jutsu Naruto's first signature jutsu, the Shadow Clone Technique takes advantage of the massive chakra reserve Naruto possesses due to him being the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. Naruto is able to create upwards to two thousand clones, and able to have a decent amount of chakra in each of them. Because of this, Naruto can use his shadow clones for almost anything, from straight combat to speed training. In the beginning, Naruto would create a multitude of clones to overwhelm his opponents. Other times however, he would employ the use of the Transformation Technique to change the appearance of this clones to catch his target off guard. By Part II, Naruto learned that whatever his shadow clones learn, he, the main mind, will also learn. By using this, he is able to learn something that would take years in days, which greatly increased his rate of learning. Naruto also learned that he could use the shadow clones to determine his opponents' abilities, to determine how many clones he will really need to defeat them instead of wasting chakra on thousands of clones. It should also be noted, that Naruto has shown admirably skill in taijutsu, by using his clones as a main style of attack. Even without his clones, he showed skill capable of going toe-to-toe with Sora, a taijutsu expert. Summoning Jutsu Naruto was first taught how to use the Summoning Technique by Jiraiya. After allowing Naruto to sign the Summoning Contract with the toads of Myōbokuzan, Jiraiya took Naruto through the execution of the technique in order to provide Naruto with allies in future battles. Additionally, Jiraiya's other motivation to teaching Naruto how to summon, was in order to help Naruto to realize, and take advantage of, the Nine-Tails' chakra reserves. The type of toads that Naruto can summon at any time is proportional to his chakra and skill, as w hen he first started out he could only summon tadpoles. At first, Naruto would have a hard time getting any specific toad, as he would summon either Gamakichi or Gamatatsu. But when he used the Nine-Tails' chakra, or when he is truly motivated, Naruto was able to summon the toad boss, Gamabunta. = = = Collaboration Jutsu Collaboration Jutsu, also synchronized or combination jutsu, pertains to an area of jutsu which entail techniques that are comprised of at least two or more jutsu that, when initiated with the right timing, one will feed into each other to become a jutsu of greater power than the sum of its parts. Naruto was introduced to the subject by Jiraiya in the anime, where Jiraiya summoned Gamariki to synchronize with Naruto in order for him to develop a collaboration technique. Though he found it difficult to work with Gamariki and summoned Gamakichi and Gamatatsu of whom he was already accustomed to working with and trained with the two, later Naruto asked if they could speed up the training in which case he would need to be inside Gamatatsu's mouth and release his wind chakra the moment Gamatatsu released water chakra, developing Wind Release: Toad Gun. The attack was strong enough to blast through Guren's Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Labyrinth Technique. Later in the midst of a battle with the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle, Naruto developed a collaboration jutsu with both Gamakichi and Gamabunta known as, Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet. This technique was powerful enough to temporarily knock out the tailed beast. In the anime, Naruto has also been seen using Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet with Gamabunta, but not knowing any Fire Release ninjutsu and needing an ignition source, he substituted an exploding tag instead. Rasengan Created by the Fourth Hokage and taught to him by Jiraiya, the Rasengan is Naruto's second and strongest signature jutsu. While the Rasengan is a one handed technique, Naruto required the use of two to form it due to his poor chakra control, thus using a clone to form the "shell" of the sphere. Despite this, Naruto has used the Rasengan effectively in almost every onthumb|300px|right|Rasengane of his fights after mastering it. The Rasengan holds an advantage over its counterpart, the Chidori. The Rasengan only requires chakra control to form, while the Chidori uses so much chakra that it can only be used a few times a day. Naruto mastered the Rasengan to a degree that he can do it almost instantaneously. The Rasengan, like the Clone Technique, would be the base of several original jutsu created by Naruto, such as the Great Ball Rasengan, a larger and more powerful version of the Rasengan. He has also created the Wind Release: Rasengan and Wind Release: Rasenshuriken after his wind training, and after his senjutsu training, the Sage Art: Great Ball Rasengan and Sage Technique: Rasenrengan. Due to the unique nature of the Rasengan in Naruto movies, Naruto creates a new type of Rasengan, often facilitated by a character in the movie, or a unique property present in the movie. Nature Transformation After failing to bring Sasuke back to Konoha for the second time, Naruto went through elemental training where he discovered that he had an affinity to wind, which by incorporating into the Rasengan, which was originally intended to be combined with a nature element, would greatly increase his power and his chances. The wind nature compliments a fighter like Narutothumb|300px|left|Fuuton Rasen-Shuriken (Wind Element , Spiraling Shuriken), as the wind nature is a great match for short ranged fighters. By focusing his wind chakra, Naruto can go as far as cutting things with only his chakra. Naruto had learned nature transformations to upgrade his Rasengan, which he achieved with the Wind Release: Rasengan and the Rasenshuriken, combining both shape and nature manipulation originally deemed impossible without natural talent or instinct. The Rasenshuriken was capable of slicing into the victim and cutting them at a cellular level faster than a Sharingan can see it. It, however, caused similar damage to himself as it is still a handheld jutsu, despite its name. After his sage training, he could throw the Rasenshuriken and expand it, increasing its power and attack radius. This also helped to nullify the damage it would normally do to his arm. Senjutsu After Jiraiya's death at the hands of Pain, Naruto began training with Fukasaku in Myōbokuzan to learn senjutsu and how to enter Sage Mode. In order to achieve this, Narthumb|300px|left|Naruto Sage mode picturesuto had to learn to sense and control the natural energy around him. Once mastered, Naruto was able to perfect the Rasenshuriken, so that he could throw it, and learn Frog Kata, the taijutsu style that uses the natural energy around the user to enhance the range and the potency of their attacks. However, Naruto had one fatal flaw in his senjutsu training. To mold senjutsu chakra, the user must remain absolutely still. Something one can not do while in combat, and because of the Nine-Tails, Shima and Fukasaku are unable to fuse with Naruto to mold it for him. To counter this, Naruto has to leave two shadow clones in a safe place to mold the senjutsu chakra for him. Once he depletes his current amount of senjutsu chakra, he would dispel one of the clones and gather its senjutsu chakra to reenter Sage Mode. This method limits the maximum number of shadow clones that Naruto can create to five for as long as the clones are gathering natural energy, as anything more would interfere with their focus. However, he is currently trying to extend the time he can remain in Sage Mode at one time. Deception Although Naruto's intelligence is greatly downplayed for most of the series, his skills in deception and strategy are actually extremely high, allowing him to defeat even S-Class ninja such as Kakuzu and Pain. He also possesses the ability to formulate complex plans in the midst of battle. Naruto's strategies typically involve shadow clones; either directing his opponent’s attentions towards one of his clones to disguise his own movements, or transforming them into various shapes (such as shuriken) to allow for surprise attacks. His skills in deception are shown to have grown exponentially during his battle with Pain, allowing him to prevail through an elaborate and highly unpredictable array of back-up plans, such as transforming his clones to mimic the environment. Naruto can also be quite innovative, using his clones to master advanced techniques. Examples of this include a two-man Rasengan, three-man Rasenshuriken, and using clones to perform senjutsu. Part 1 The series begins with Naruto, labelled as his classes 'Dead-Last', once again failing to graduate from the Ninja Academy. Disappointed that his plans of becoming Hokage have hit another hurdle, Naruto was approached by one of his instructors, Mizuki. Mizuki told Naruto that, if he could steal the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Residence and learn one of the jutsu written on it, then he would be allowed to graduate. Naruto did so, and began struggling to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, unaware that the village was now looking for him. Iruka tracked him down, and discovered Mizuki's involvement in the theft, realizing that Naruto had been duped by Mizuki, in an effort to steal the scroll. Mizuki attacked them, and told Naruto about the Nine-Tails sealed within him, claiming that Iruka hated him because of it. When Iruka risked his life to protect Naruto, however, Naruto realized that Mizuki's earlier words were a lie, and created hundreds of shadow clones to beat Mizuki to a pulp. For mastering such a difficult technique, Iruka allowed Naruto to graduate. In the days to come, Naruto befriended Konohamaru and became his on-off teacher, showing him how to perform a variety of both perverted and useful jutsu throughout the rest of the series. He was also assigned to Team 7, where he was partnered with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, under the leadership of Kakashi Hatake. As the team's first order of business, Kakashi gave them a test to see if they were ready to become Genin. He had the three of them try to take the two bells he kept on his person, the goal of the test being to place teamwork above the fact that they couldn't all have a bell. Although they initially failed miserably, all trying independently to take a bell, they eventually decided to work together, allowing them to pass. Land of Waves arc. After completing a number of simple, uneventful missions, Team 7, at Naruto's insistence, was assigned the somewhat more difficult C-rank task of escorting Tazuna to the Land of Waves. When they were attacked by the Demon Brothers along the way, who tried to kill Tazuna, they realized that there was more to this mission than a simple escort. Tazuna revealed that his country was under the control of Gatō, who had left the people poor and unable to afford the more accurate A-rank mission payment. By building a bridge that would connect the Land of Waves to the mainland, Tazuna hoped to free the country from Gatō, prompting Gatō to try and kill him. Team 7 decided to help Tazuna, and act as his bodyguards until the bridge was completed. They were soon attacked by Zabuza Momochi, another of Gatō's assassins, who engaged Kakashi in battle. When Zabuza captured Kakashi, he encouraged his team to escape with Tazuna. Having been of little use during the battle with the Demon Brothers, Naruto resolved to help Kakashi. With Sasuke's assistance, they were able to free Kakashi, who in turn almost defeated Zabuza. However, Haku, disguised as a hunter-nin, intervened, and appeared to kill Zabuza first, in actuality only putting him in a death-like state in order to get him to safety. Kakashi suspected that Zabuza was still alive, and gave Team 7 a Tree Climbing Practice to improve their chakra control. Naruto and Sasuke developed a competition over the exercise, each determined to complete the training first, and subsequently motivating each other to do better. While Naruto was resting from training one day, he encountered Haku, unaware that it was the same boy he had encountered earlier. The two had a conversation about those who were precious to them, and the lengths they would go to protect them. After Haku left, Naruto finished the training, but was left so tired that the rest of Team 7 allowed him to rest the next day as they went to escort Tazuna. When he woke up, he went to assist them, only to find that they were in the midst of battle with Zabuza and Haku. Naruto went to help Sasuke in his battle with Haku, but they were both trapped by Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors (because Naruto was an idiot and thought it'd be a good idea to "sneak in to help"). When Haku tried to use a volley of needles to kill Naruto, Sasuke stepped in to protect him, appearing to die instead. Enraged by the apparent death of Sasuke, Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra, allowing him to destroy the ice mirrors, and subsequently defeat Haku. Before he could kill Haku, however, the mask he was wearing broke away, revealing the face of the boy Naruto had met earlier. Naruto stopped himself, but Haku asked that he should finish the job, since he could no longer be of use to Zabuza. Although Naruto tried to comply, Haku stopped him at the last minute, and went to help Zabuza. When Naruto realized what had happened - that Haku had given his life to save an ungrateful Zabuza - an outraged Naruto reprimanded Zabuza for not appreciating Haku's actions. Touched by his words, Zabuza killed Gatō to repent in an effort to do Haku justice, but died of his wounds. The bridge (now named the Great Naruto Bridge) was completed, and the Land of Waves was saved, so Team 7 (with a recovered Sasuke) returned home. Chunin Exams After returning home and completing a few other simple missions, Team 7 was entered into the Cthumb|300px|right|Naruto and the others cheating in the Written Examhūnin Exams. In the first phase, a written test, the participating Genin were tasked with completing the test by cheating, all the while being sure not to get caught. Though the rest of the examinees realized this, Naruto did not, and struggled to answer the questions, which were far beyond his comprehension. Hinata Hyūga, who was sitting next to him, offered to allow him to copy off her paper, but he refused, in fear that she would get caught. Naruto was forced to rely on getting the tenth question correct to pass. When faced with the prospect of correctly answering the question to proceed, failing and never being allowed to take the test again, or giving up to try it again during the next exams, Naruto insisted on answering the question, stating that, even if he got it wrong, he would still become Hokage. The willingness to face the unknown being the answer to the tenth question, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 were allowed to proceed to the second phase. For the second phase, Team 7 was sent into the Forest of Death with one scroll, tasked to obtain a second scroll from another team and arrive at the forest's centre before the phase ended. Soon after entering the forest, they were attacked by Orochimaru, who immobilized Sasuke and Sakura with his murderous intent. Before Sasuke could forfeit their scroll in exchange for their lives, Naruto intervened, fighting Orochimaru by tapping into the Nine-Tails' chakra. Orochimaru rendered Naruto unconscious by restricting access to the Nine-Tails' chakra, but Naruto's courage inspired Sasuke to fight in his place. After Orochimaru was driven off and Naruto awakened, Team 7 encountered Team Oboro. After wasting a day trapped in the rival team's genjutsu, Team 7 was able to defeat them, take their scroll, and pass the round. Because too many Genin teams had passed the second phase, a round of preliminary matches, where Genin faced each other in combat, were held to thin the field. After watching the first few rounds, Naruto was matched against Kiba Inuzuka, and his dog, Akamaru. Remembering Naruto to be talentless from their days in the academy, Kiba believed it would be an easy match. He and Akamaru double-teamed Naruto, who initially had difficulty with the match. After combining the Transformation Technique with his shadow clones to turn Kiba and Akamaru against each other, Naruto was able to remove Akamaru from the competition. When Kiba was about to defeat him, Naruto blew off, immobilizing Kiba and his heightened sense of smell, and making him an easy target for the Uzumaki Naruto Combo. Naruto won the match. thumb|300px|left|Kiba Vs Naruto (Part 1)thumb|300px|right|Kiba Vs Naruto (Part 2) While watching the remaining matches, Naruto witnessed Neji Hyūga's ruthless treatment of his cousin, Hinata. Angered by Neji's actions, and his claims that Hinata was a failure who couldn't escape that fate, Naruto vowed to defeat Neji during the first round of the finals a month later. In the meantime, Naruto started training with Ebisu to improve his chakra control. When Ebisu was knocked out by Jiraiya, Naruto forced Jiraiya to train him in his place. Jiraiya, noticing that Naruto was the container of the Nine-Tails, and the restrictive seal Orochimaru had placed on him earlier, Jiraiya removed the seal to ease his chakra control. He then taught him how to take advantage of the Nine-Tails' chakra by showing him how to use the Summoning Technique to summon toads. Although having little success at first, Naruto was eventually able to summon the likes of Gamabunta in time for the final round. When his match against Neji began, Naruto appeared to be at a disadvantage. Although he was able to overwhelm Neji with shadow clones, none of the clones could manage to land a hit. Convinced that Naruto was a failure that could not defeat a genius like himself, Neji used his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to cut off Naruto's chakra supply. Determined to prove Neji wrong, Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' reserves and, revitalized, clashed with Neji. When the smoke cleared, Neji emerged, Naruto appearing to have been defeated. This, however, was only a shadow clone, and the real Naruto burst from the ground beneath Neji, to deliver an uppercut and defeat him. Neji was taken away, contemplating the fact that fate was not predetermined, since a failure could beat a genius, while Naruto watched the remaining matches. When Sasuke fought Gaara, he was envious of Sasuke's improvements, but the fight was interrupted by the beginning of the invasion of Konoha.